Strong Artificial Bone Made from Fish Scales

A research group from Tokyo Institute of Technology have recently developed artificial bone using fish scales. In early experiment, the researchers found that “the collagen that makes up fish scales, has a similar structure to the thickest layer of the human cornea, the corneal stroma”. After that they tried to turn the scientific discovery into real products, artificial bones made of fish scales.

Compared with artificial bones made of pig skins, the new material mainly has three advantages: safer to use, stronger in structure and easier to convert into bones. Firstly, fish doesn’t have viruses that are common to people and animals, so the new artificial bones won’t cause illnesses. Also, artificial bone made from fish can have a much higher density so that it is very strong. Thirdly, with artificial bone made from fish scales, it takes about three months for the material to convert into bones after it is implanted, while comparatively it takes artificial bone made from pig skins twice the time to finish to conversion process. The new material is said to be used in treatment for older people in the future, but before that the research group will continue to investigate the bone conversion process further.